If you own a rental property but had a tenant completely trash it when they left then make sure you read this article because we’re addressing the all-too-common problem that landlords have when they say, “Help! My last tenant trashed my Wichita house!”
Do you own a rental property? Did your last tenant leave it in a horrible condition? It happens a lot! In fact, it’s a headache that probably every landlord has faced at least once. If you looked at your empty rental property and said, “Help! My tenant totally trashed my Wichita house” then here are some things you can do about it…
Should I go after the tenant?
You need to first evaluate the damage and decide if it’s worth going after the tenant. Unfortunately, it often isn’t worth the hassle because it may be a time consuming and even an expensive effort to get the tenant to pay you back. Most tenants who end up trashing your rental will more than likely ignore your calls and you would end up having to take them to the court which would be a costly procedure and most time not worth the time if there’s only a little damage. However, if the damage is significant enough, you may choose to do this anyway.
Is it worth repairing the damage?
From holes in the walls to strange smells and even missing toilets – we’ve heard of just about everything you can imagine! Sometimes a bit of drywall and paint will fix the problem, in which case you may want to fix it up and rent it out again, and then just accept the inconvenience as the cost of doing business. However, if the damage is not worth the time repairing it yourself then you might be interested in a couple of other options:
You could rent your house out to a handyman
One little-known option that is actually really good idea is to find a handyman who wants to rent the house. In exchange for a discount on rent (or even free rent), they can fix up the house for you to make it a nice rental property again. Make sure you have a timeline all spelled out, though, to avoid then staying too long without a lot of work getting done.
You could sell the house
Another option is to sell the house and move on from owning a frustrating rental property. However, be aware that if you try to sell the house on the open market, you may have to fix it up first in order for the agent to list it. Another option is to sell privately to a house-buying team like ours. (We buy houses in as-is condition and we’ll fix them up ourselves).